Building my timber garage/workshop

Been busy this past week but little to show for it as I’m doing all the cuts where the wall meets up with the roof





As non of the walls have any load placed on them the top (last course) board has nothing to keep it in place so I’ve been using long screws or brackets on the gable side to the top board to keep it down, in places I had to use a spanner as I couldn’t get my impact driver to it, on the top and bottom pitch I’ve been using the 21mm dowels





On the front and back pitch of the box profile sheets there is a foam seal to stop draft and insects so I’ve been fitting batons for this foam and also to fit in fibre glass insulation to it







This is the foam with the same profile as the sheets







Then at the back of the pitch roof I have the joists popping out to contend with, as I’m working on my own I fixed two brackets to the wall to rest the long board on, my first plan was to use one long board and cut out for the joists and rest it on these brackets as I was fitting it







I wasn’t happy with the fit of this long board so went with cutting one of the boards in to three and it made my life a lot easier and was a better fir to the wall

The gap at the bottom of the joist is a good ten millimetre larger than wanted but had to have this extra gap to be able to lift the board over the ten millimetre tongue on the board, all these gaps will be filled with expansion foam when finished







Then I made the cuts to fit the last row of the board, to the under side of the roof sheets






H&S would throw me off site if they saw this



The top row before fitting the foam seal, out side view





Inside view



Yesterday I went to buy my PIR insulation, what a shock I got on pricing, when I last got a price (early last year) it feels they have gone up 100%, looks like it will have to be polystyrene insulation for me, while I was at the builders merchant, I bought a roll of a damaged 50mm fibreglass insulation for a tenner, this will be packed behind the top most wall boarding between the joists where a solid insulation board would be hard to make a good seal







I’ve stopped drinking soft drinks ages ago, my daughter has a can or two in the fridge, never had a can of coke looked so good after sweating my cojones off

Well the compressed wood chipping I was planning on using for the polystyrene insulation framing didn’t pass the water bucket test, in fact just the sight of damp and they ballooned, distorted and crumbled in my hands

These 3 pallets full are going to take me some time to get rid of with our brown bin



So at the beginning of the week I planed on popping over to buy the 2x4’s (32) from my regular builders merchant, price was £446, by chance I was at one end of town and while there popped in to the local timber yard there, I got a price of £334 for the 32x 2x4 timber

I went to my regular builders merchants



and ordered some more materials for my next stage, sand to level the floor, concrete gravel for the garage opening and a few other items, and while at it I mentioned rock wool they were selling @£49 and the 2x4’s they were selling @£446 (for 32) well got the rock wool for £20 and the timber they matched it £334, so a few quid saving there

The rock wool I took home with me on the day so I could make a start placing this in the gaps at the tip of the roof and at the base of the roof between the joists





















Here through these clear roof sheet you can see both the foam seal going under the sheets to make a seal between the sheets and the wall board, then behind you can make out the rock wool for added seal







The box profile sheets came with 40mm screws, these were OK on the flat part of the sheets but as the joists were more or less falling under the peek of the sheets the screws were too short to make contact with the joists,

I popped over to my local screws and bolts shop and bought longer (made for) box profile roofing screws

So before I fitted the last board to the top hiding the joist location I fixed a screw in the centre of each joist to run a line from top to bottom and then screw down the sheets







The sand, cement, rebar and some other timber I ordered arrived last Tuesday





I don’t know what these are called but these keep the rebar off the floor to give the concrete better strength




last night I was out there in the garage with my laser level getting a line hight for the screeding





This afternoon (after Formula One on TV) I went to the garage and made a start and laying a 5 to 1 floor screed to level off the floor,



I wetted the floor for a better bonding





I din’t add any water to the mix as the sand was damp enough with the rain we’ve been having











Went back a few hours later to check up on the screed and it’s looking OK

thats a good point about giving them away free, I'll do that, I'm sure someone would make good use out of these

Not sure if I posted when I fitted my last wall timber, I had to fit the holding timber posts so I could keep it there till I managed to slot the tongue in the grove and then using the winch to hold down the timber I hammered in 20mm dowels all along the timber board, this was done a few weeks back



Also been doing some more floor levelling





What has been keeping my busy is drilling out all the weeping knots that were 20mm or less in diameter with a 20mm wood drill

As can be seen from the outside, there were quit a few that were weeping and needed drilling out



A few on the right have been plugged but the ones on the left waiting to be plugged, it’s hard work hammering in these dowels





These and many more had been plugged in





The issue I have is that a good few are between 30mm to 60mm diamiter





At this diameter, on my test timber it was very hard if not impossible to get a start using a 50mm and a 60mm forstner bit, so I bought a drill track guide, not a heavy duty one, but still very hard to get a good start without damaging the timber, even by working my way up using smaller forstner bit and working my way up to the 50mm one





The thing is I also have these kind of long splits











And even where the knot has popped out





So my plan is/was to use something appropriate that would fill in the gaps, splits and holes with purpose made materials

I have been googling for materials the would be good for external use to fill these gaps but not much luck, any one have experience or knowledge what I should be looking for, without costing an arm or leg?



In between the rain and cold mornings I’ve been out with my builders foam gun and filling in the gaps round the garage, first taped one side with gaffer











For sure it’s messy stuff



I waited till it dried out then with a Stanly knife I cut off the excess

I have a couple of small step ladders but not high enough to get to the ceiling of the garage, on Facebook there was a local firm selling off some excess to requirement 2M step ladders only £70, as good as new so bought one, marvellous just right for my needs to get to both the ceiling or getting on to the roof itself





With all this rain we’ve been having I’m pleased I put up my guttering a few days before the down pour and my digital level came in useful, (I’m sure I could of done it just as good with a spirit level)





Got it to give me a fall of 3mm per Meter run













Most of the knots had dried up and letting in water when there was a strong down pour most of the small knots I drilled out and plugged them with either a 14mm dowel or a 20mm dowel,

but there were some bigger knots and some oblong shaped ones, I had bought some out door glue to use over the knots but after advice from the joiners I used, I went with External frame Sealant, I bought a box of 12 from Amazon



Until I give it another coat of pain this is what the walls look like, (sooner have a dry garage than a pretty looking one) and in all these heavy down pours the sealant has kept the water out, there are a few small knots I’ve missed and need to go over but the sealant is doing its job

















I’ve now just a little bit more to do with the floor levelling then I’ll be laying the floor insulation, pain with my back (killing me, old age) I can only do bits at a time